Event Log: The Hope of a Child

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the The Hope of a Child event
Where: All over the city!
When: January 23rd-Feb 1st
Warnings: Youths

By now, the gods have probably done enough weird crap to you while you're asleep for you to be a little suspicious- but it's not like you can just not sleep, especially when there are a few supernatural forces making your eyes droopy and your body feel heavy.

And now, when you fall asleep, you'll wake up somewhere else and you'll likely have quite a different temperament- you'll be younger, maybe a little more naive and innocent, and you won't exactly remember all the wild stuff that's happened to your adult self. Maybe now you'll be a little more trusting and emotional, hm? The gods could definitely use a little boost in power, and what better way to do it than to harness the power of overemotional kiddos!

Or maybe you aren't affected at all and find yourself surrounded by youths. What are you going to do when your best friend doesn't know how to cook for themselves? Or your bitter rival is throwing a temper tantrum because they broke their favorite toy? Nobody asked for this kind of responsibility, but think about what would happen if nobody was around to take care of these babies...

► This log covers January 23rd-Feb 1st.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you trip over a kid and die, please let us know here.

Comments

[hasitsthorns]

To Rose, that's one of the best things anyone can be. She can only dream of someday traveling the Makai, maybe even the Ningenkai. It's the epitome of the old adage 'be careful what you wish for' in her case, however. Rose will get everything she ever wanted eventually. But she can't fathom how steep the price will be, how it'll be nothing like she dreamed.

How it will shape the woman she's going to grow up to to be in ways even she doesn't yet understand. "That's neat! What was your favorite place?"

[circumitus]

For a moment, Rey grimaces. It wasn't like she did a whole lot of sightseeing during her travels, considering that she was mostly sent to kill, or otherwise be used to collect data unknowingly. There wasn't much time for her to do what she wanted. And yet...

"Think it might've been Russia. People find it to be an unforgiving place to live, but I was always fond of their harsh winters."

It might also have something to do with the fact that the Russian woman was the last identity Rey can remotely recall, but Rey doesn't question it.

[hasitsthorns]

"Russia..." the girl repeats, it sounding like a foreign word on her tongue. That's because it is. She doesn't know of anything beyond her home country of Japan. The furthest she's ever traveled from her hometown, too, is Edo. Well. Where Edo connected to the Makai. There's where all the best matsuri were held; she always enjoyed them when they could attend. This heat makes her think of summer. But instead of fireworks and dango, she's so far from home and alone.

"My home's always winter," she says, trying to distract herself from the sudden resurgence of fear and worry being separated from her pack is causing. "But you probably wouldn't like it there. Wolves aren't very nice to people."

She sounds a little ashamed, maybe, when she says it. Almost as if she wishes that wasn't the case.

[circumitus]

Judging from Rose's features and terminology she uses, plus the real name she had just given a moment ago, it's safe for Rey to take an educated guess as to what her home might be.

Always winter doesn't sound too bad, if you know how to survive it. Rey has seen some of the hardest people come from such places, including Safronov, despite those memories being somewhat jumbled for some reason.

She is quick to then shake that thought out of her head, though.

"I don't know. You seem pretty nice."

Oof. The chances that Rose is going to remember this conversation in a week is more likely now that Rey's just said shit like that, isn't it?

[hasitsthorns]

It isn't hard to piece together that puzzle, no. It's very possible though that Rey is thinking of the Japan with busy streets and claims to being one of the most technologically advanced societies of its time; for Hanako, that's hundreds of years away. The Japan she knows is one where Tokyo is still called Edo, where the lines between Makai and humanity are blurred just so slightly.

"I'm different," she admits. It's easier to say these things without her pack around. "Or that's what they say. I'm supposed to be mean to people, but- I don't like to be."

[circumitus]

Not like other girls, she says. Well, that's what Rey got out of it, because it couldn't be any closer to the truth.

"And why is that?" Rey asks, genuinely curious. She recalls something Rose had told her before, about what her people did, and how she didn't seem to revel in the same traditions. Sometimes there's a root cause that's been nurtured, others is more innate and complicated. She has a feeling that maybe, with Rose, it's the latter.

[hasitsthorns]

"I dunno," she answers, sounding bit as unsure as she actually is. It's something that's perplexed everyone about Rose, including herself.

"I just like them. People. I think they're so interesting!"

[circumitus]

People have always been beyond confusing to Rey, but she can see where (little) Rose is coming from. It's just such a vastly different perspective from the older, more troubled woman that Rey is familiar with.

"Sometimes people are just drawn to things that are new and unknown to them. Maybe that's why."

Come to think of it, that would explain a lot of things about Rey herself.

[hasitsthorns]

As an adult, Rose has seen the worst of both yokai and humanity. She still chose humanity as superior but Haven had jaded her. Hadriel, too. It must be a strange dichotomy between this optimistic, idealistic Rose and the one Rey knows. It's incredible how even the smaller things can shape people.

"Hhmm," she hums thoughtfully. "I guess that'd make sense! I don't know a lot about humans than what I've been told. I've never even really met one, just seen them walking through the mountains sometimes."

[circumitus]

Hopefully none of the ones that get tripped and eaten, Rey presumes. But then, it's not like she is one to judge. Her kind is hardly better, even if she disassociates with the synthetics akin to her.

"Have you met the other humans in this city? Some of them aren't all that bad. Even the ones who aren't human."

[hasitsthorns]

If they were, it wasn't by Rose. The only thing she's sunk her teeth into has been sheep so far. Mutton stew was her favorite. That's actually true of adult Rose, too, but like Hell she's ever going to tell anyone that.

"I've met... some people," she admits. "They seem alright, but. It's still scary. Being so far away from home." There. She said it! She's scared! Gosh, she already wishes she hadn't.

[circumitus]

Fucking precious.

"Guess it can be, when you end up someplace unfamiliar." Rey manages something of a rare, strained smile. "Fortunately, I've been here for a couple years now, so I'm pretty used to these roads."

Maybe that'll set Rose's little wolfy heart at ease.

[hasitsthorns]

"A couple years? Wow, that's... not a long time." Says the girl already a little over a century old, who's never been anywhere but home until now. Her sense of time might be just a little skewed.

"So we can't just go... somewhere else?" Ah. Rose. If only it were that simple.

[circumitus]

No, it really isn't that long, in the grand scope of her own lifespan. She's lived several lives, and stability was never a feature in any of them.

"It is when you're used to packing up and moving every few months or so." There was that fact, at least. "Sorry. Our options are a little limited right now."

Thanks, Delight.

[hasitsthorns]

Rose's stability will some day end. But she won't look back on it fondly. In fact, she'll see all the ways it was stifling and confining and made her feel extremely small. She is actually small now though so that's less an issue.

"That's awful," she says. "What about people who need to go back home? What if their parents worry?" Rose knows her mother would be frantic if she was gone for too long. Mostly because she's not allowed to stray outside the village to begin with, but...

[circumitus]

How important is telling her the truth going to be? Rey has been here long enough to know how this works. Whether Rose will remember this conversation or not, that she doesn't know.

"Their parents will be fine. You'll go back as if you never left at all, so no worries there."

It's truth enough.

[hasitsthorns]

Little white lies never hurt anyone. Her adult self will take that an unrealistic extreme but, hey, who's really judging? Not this little wolf, that's for sure. Ignorance is bliss in this case and she seems satisfied with that answer.

"Oh, that's... weird. But good, I guess! That means they don't have to worry. And I have time to figure out how to get back to them! Maybe I can get everyone back home, too!"

[circumitus]

Fortunately, from what Rey can see, this little wolf is a bit more subdued than her older self. Good thing Rey wouldn't resort to white lies otherwise.

"Ah--" She stops herself before she can point out that not everyone would rather go home. Rose is no doubt aware of her own situation, but there's no point in freaking the kid out. It's better to just resign herself to the fact that it'd be a waste of time and focus on keeping Rose safe. "Sure. Good luck with that."

Rey pauses, then adds: "So, um. You like your family?"

It sure sounds like it, despite Rose being different from them.

[hasitsthorns]

That's a good call. This Rose is naive enough to believe that eveyone would rather go home. They have family and friends to return to, right? It just makes sense.

"Yeah!" she exclaims, almost excitedly. But then she takes a moment to think and, well. It's a little more tricky than that, even at so young of an age.

"I mean, it's... hard sometimes. I'm not like other wolves so I think my parents get picked on for it. I try, but- I'm just different."

[circumitus]

That's a tune Rey knows all too well. She sighs at Rose's answer.

"People tend to do that over things they don't understand, or see as different. Those types are dumbasses, though. You don't need to worry about them."

Or maybe she does. But Rey would rather the Rose she knows not to worry her little head over being a different sort of wolf. Rey is different from the rest of her kind, too.

[hasitsthorns]

"It's not me I'm worried about," she admits. "It's... my parents. I think it's harder on them than me sometimes, maybe."

She's seen the way her mother cries sometimes when someone says she birthed a 'defective' child. She's seen the way her father's quiet anger rises up behind his eyes at her doing something else out of line. She knows she's different and it's hard on her too but she can't imagine what it must be like for them.

[circumitus]

Okay, that's fair. Rey recalls her own mother, what had happened to her because she tried to protect a thing she created and called her child. She grimaces a moment, then glances back down to Rose.

"Well, guess I was different like you, too. Or, at least, I didn't 'work' like I was supposed to." She says that word with a bit of distaste. "So don't worry about it. Being different isn't so bad."

Considering that Rey isn't sure they would be friends (friends?) if Rose was the same as her kin.

[hasitsthorns]

No, it's very likely they wouldn't. It's very like no one would have known Rose the way she is now. Somtimes, however, she almost wishes they hadn't. Maybe then more of them would be alive. Maybe then she wouldn't wonder why it seems like everything she touches turns to ruin.

"I think so, too. It's hard sometimes but my people are really mean and... I don't wanna be."

It's strange, how she she feels so much safer saying it lightyears away from all she's ever known as home. It makes her feel almost a little guilty how easy it is to tell a kind stranger this than her own parents, than the rest of her pack.

[circumitus]

For some reason, this isn't the Rose Rey would have expected. She isn't sure what to expect -- maybe something closer to the snarling, feral creature she first ran into. What few memories of a childhood she does have are many, and none are her own. She tries not to dwell on that for long, but this place has a way of ripping the past right open for many.

"You don't have to be." Rey gives the girl a somewhat sympathetic look, before placing a hand over her head, between those wolflike ears.

It's... cute? Damned if she doesn't have a soft spot for animals. (And maybe children, to an extent.)

"Well, as long as you're here, you can be whoever you want. So be nice or whatever to your heart's content."

[hasitsthorns]

She won't be that Rose for another century or so. For as much as demons and humans don't get along, they share some key similarities. While most human children aren't tearing this open with their teeth or living off the land, they are being taught by people older than them and brought up as best as they can be. Most of the time.

When the woman's hand goes to her head, her ears flatten back in response. Her tail starts to swish, kicking up dust behind her. She's still very much like a canine despite the human(oid) appearance and attitude. It's an interesting blend where animal ends and human(oid) begins.

"You really mean it? That'd be cool! I always wanted to just, like, I'unno. Talk to people. Like this!"